After So Long
by CreationStation
Summary: Dean Winchester had been abducted when he was only five and his father was on a 'hunting trip'. He was left for dead when his kidnapper, a man with yellow eyes, left him in an unknown wilderness far from the motel he was taken from. Almost 18 years later, his brother Sam, who had been barely 18 moths when he was kidnapped, finds him in the woods. Rated T for Dean's language.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. All rights go to Eric Kripke. I do enjoy toying with them though.**

**Ok, so this is my first fan fiction to be put up on this site. I thought, what better foot to start out on than Supernatural?**

**This is just the prologue and based on the response from this I may or may not continue. The Chapters will be short in the beginning but will hopefully grow in size.**

**Enjoy the Prologue of "18 Long Years"**

_Prologue_

Emerald eyes flit around the room as the old motel creaked and settled around him. It was sometime in the middle of the night and Dean Winchester couldn't sleep. His baby brother was sleeping in the bed not a few feet from him. He looked over and his gaze fell upon the rise and fall of the baby's chest as he breathed. He could feel his breathing gradually slow to match the pace.

That was good. He was alive. Still breathing underneath the small blanket he was wrapped in. His father had drilled into his head that Sammy was the priority. "First make sure he is safe then get yourself to safety." Was what John always said before closing the door to go off on a hunt. Dean sat on the floor between the two beds, knees brought up to his chest and chin resting on his knees. He had been sitting like this for the past hour or so. It was hard for a five year old to keep track of time as it passes by.

Their father was out on a hunt at the moment. Dean knew that it was no normal hunting trip, like he had said so many times. You needed animals to hunt, and what John was hunting was anything but.

The air in the motel room was stale and stuffy. Hey, he had been in there with Sammy for the past three day while their daddy was away. The middle Winchester stood from his spot on the floor and stretched towards the ceiling, back arching slightly. He needed air. Fresh, cool air that he knew was just outside the motel room door. His father had told him not to leave the room, though he didn't give a reason.

He would only take a minute. Just a moment wouldn't hurt right? He'll be back in a minute. At least, that's what he told himself.

Dean slipped on his jacket and worn sneakers. They were starting to get a bit small for his growing feet, but he would never tell his dad that. He zipped his jacket all the way up to his chin and slowly unlocked and opened the door to the outside world.

A strong gust of wind pushed against his small body as he walked down the sidewalk in front of the motel. The night was cold and the wind cut right through the jacket and chilled him to the core. The air was fresh and chilly just like he thought it would be. It did him good to be able to stretch his legs after being cooped up in a smelly motel room for three whole days with a baby.

He turned the corner with his hands in his pockets and eyes turned up to the starry night sky above his head. As he walked, he tried to count all the stars in the sky. It didn't really help that he could barely count up to a hundred and fifty without missing any of the numbers. Any higher than that was highly debatable.

Suddenly, a strong hand was clapped over his mouth and some weird smelly cloth was over his nose. An arm wrapped around his tiny waist, pinning his arms to his sides. Dean struggled against the strong arms, but to no avail. He was getting drowsy and black rimmed his vision. His body was becoming heavier by the second as if it were slowly getting filled with lead.

The last thing he heard before he slipped fully into unconsciousness was the rumble of the Impala's engine and the sound of his baby brother crying.

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John Winchester killed the engine of his beloved Impala and stopped the sweet lull of the engine along with it. As that sound died, another more disconcerting sound hit his ears. The sound of his baby boy crying. He jumped out of the car and jogged over to his and his sons' motel room.

When he opened the door, he immediately noticed two things. One, Sammy, his youngest son, was lying on the bed alone bawling his eyes out at the top of his lungs. Two, Dean was nowhere to be seen. He was nowhere in the room and the bathroom across from him was dark.

John quickly went over and gathered Sam up into his arms. The baby quieted down almost immediately, his blue eyes staring up at his daddy. "Hi, Sammy. Hi…" He looked around the room once more.

"Dean?" He called out into the room, as if that would make his son appear out of thin air. It was a futile gesture since every spot in the room was visible from his spot between the two beds. He put Sam's face into his shoulder and covered his head with the blanket as he walked outside. "Dean?" The seasoned hunted called again louder into the night.

John looked around the motel parking lot to see a man putting a figure into the back of a dark car and getting into it himself. No figures on either of the figures could be distinguished, but fear ripped into his entire being with instinct that had been heightened over the last year. "Dean!" He yelled and began to run towards the car. The car in question started up and screeched out of the parking lot.

The eldest Winchester felt as though a hole had been ripped into his chest and another piece of his heart taken out with him standing there, completely helpless.

No…

He couldn't lose Dean too. Not like this. It hadn't even been a full year since the nursery fire. Sammy couldn't grow up with just a father. No mother to kiss his scrapes when he fell and sing him to sleep, or comfort him when he had nightmares. No brother to teach him right from wrong and lead him in the right direction.

John sank to his knees in the middle of the parking lot. A choked sob escaped past the knot in his throat as the first tears slid down his stubbly cheeks. He put his face into the blanketed bundle that was his last living immediate family. The family that he had made with his wonderful wife, who was now also gone. To be so close to the baby comforted himself just as much as it comforted the baby.

He had just lost Dean. His eldest son, the one that had the blazing emerald eyes and light brown cropped hair, was now gone. Taken away from him within a heartbeat. Only God knows who or what took him away, if there even was a god anymore.

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The process of waking up seemed much more gradual than the movies made it seem. Each second felt like an eternity to the person who was actually doing the waking up. It came more in stages than really just waking up all fine and dandy.

At first, all Dean could understand was that he was lying down and was jostled every so often. Nobody seemed to be touching him so a car maybe? Most likely case scenario in this situation. The he heard it. The sound of the engine roaring what felt like right beside his head. His ear was against the smooth, most likely leather, car interior and he could hear the engine clearly.

What most adults didn't understand was that even though he was only five, his father trained him like a soldier over the past year. Drilling him in all case scenarios and what the best thing to do in all of them was. In the situation at present, the best thing to do was to take in your surroundings.

A dark haired man was driving the car that he was now in. Dean moaned softly, acting as though he had just woken up, and sat up in a groggy fashion to look around and at the man using the rear view mirror. The man up front noticed the movement and looked to Dean in the back seat.

"Ah, you're finally awake." A smile spread across his face as his deep voice rumbled out. "Good. Wouldn't want to do this to you while you were sleeping. Even _I'm_ above that."

Being in a real life situation like this was much worse than just being drilled. Fear began to build up within Dean, but he hid it well behind his serious façade. "What are you going to do with me?" He asked with his voice quivering just slightly.

The man chuckled. "You'll just have to wait and see. Spoilers are always no fun."

The five year old frowned. He hated not knowing what was going on. He always had. Even if he was just kidnapped by a complete stranger, he still wanted to be on top of the situation. "Who are you?" He asked, holding his gaze with the man in the rear view mirror.

He looked up to the mirror where his and Dean's eyes met for a moment. "Oh, I can't just go out and tell you that, now can I?"

Dean saw a flash of yellow in the man's brown eyes before he turned his attention back to the road. He couldn't help but be fearful of the man when he saw the flash. He was stuck in the back of his car with no hopes of a safe escape.

The car ride went on for another hour or so with a silence thick enough that you could cut it with a knife. Slowly, the car came to a stop and the man got out of the car. Within seconds of the driver's door closing Dean's was pulled open. The freezing cold air hit him like a brick and the early morning sunlight was peeking out of the overcast clouds. How long had he really been out?

"You see," The man began speaking as Dean stepped out of the car and into the freezing cold morning. "I don't always give my victims a fighting chance. But I like you, Dean. You and your whole family." His smile appeared again and his eyes flashed yellow. "So I'll give you a chance."

Dean backed away from the man. He didn't follow him as he thought he would. That was strange. Wasn't he going to kill him? That's what usually happened in these situations? The man just watched him back away with a smirk on his face and his hands casually in his pockets.

The middle Winchester quickly turned and ran into the trees. He didn't dare turn around to see if the man was following him, but if his ears were reliable then he wasn't. He doubted the man even would. He was going to leave the five year old out here to fend for himself and eventually die. From either animal or starvation, one of them would have to do.

Dean had no intention of dying.

He had seen too many survival shows and had spent too much time with his dad to let that happen to himself. He had to find his way back to his father and Sammy. Though he had no idea how far into the woods he was, or what state he was in for that matter, he would try to find his way back.

Dean would just have to keep going and hopefully one day find his family again.

**AN: So this is the prologue of "18 Long Years". I would love to hear back from you guys and know what you have to say. I have no publishing date for the first chapter yet, and no publishing schedule for that matter, but it is already written and waiting. **

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All rights for the characters go to the creators of Supernatural. They might have made them but I put my own little twist.**

**Holy Shit people. I wasn't expecting this kind of response and so quickly. I wasn't even expecting a response at all. Apparently you guys like it, so I'll be posting this here as often as possible.**

**I've basically been writing day and night to get as far ahead as possible so if I get grounded or have no time to write at some point then I have chapters as back up. So far, the chapters have been relatively short (about as long as the Prologue had been) and I'm already up to chapter three in writing. The chapters seem to be sticking to that length so I'll stick to that. But hey, shorter chapters mean I can write quicker and update faster.**

**You know, I'm really starting to question the sanity of the people on this site. A bunch of you wanted me to update as soon as possible so here you go. **

**Enjoy this new chapter.**

_Chapter 1_

Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he ran through the forest. Having been in this town for about a week, he knew that this forest was considerably large so straying from the path was a bad idea. His legs pumped as the blur he had been chasing disappeared from sight. He still held his gun at the ready with a flashlight guiding his way under the night sky. Whatever he was hunting had finally shown itself for the first time since he arrived.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw movement in the bushes on the side of the path as he ran past. He immediately came to a screeching halt and fired at the spot through many years of instinct. Whatever was in the brush let out a low yell of surprise and the sound of leaves crunching as it moved away could be heard as it moved away from the spot that was fired at.

Sam's forehead creased. That didn't sound like anything he had ever hunted. Animal or spirit. It sounded more human than anything. He crept forward and slowly pushed aside the bush covering the spot. What came into view surprised him more than the yell had.

A man, somewhere in his early to mid-twenties, crouched there with barely shreds of clothing covering him. His hair was knotted and hung over his head and shoulders like a dirty mop. The ends were jagged and split, the result of self-trimming.

Sam looked at the man with confusion. What was someone doing all the way out here, wearing that little amount of clothing more importantly, when winter was fast approaching?

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Sam asked deciding to be straight forward. When giving him a once over, he noticed that there was a gash on his upper arm. Probably form the shot he had fired not minutes before. The bullet must have grazed his arm. The broken skin had crimson spilling over and slowly down to his elbow. "Are you alright?" He asked and began to move closer.

The man backed up two feet for every foot Sam advanced on him. "I just want to help you. Let me take a look at that." He tried to reason as he picked up his pace. The injured man stood and broke off into a sprint in the opposite direction.

Sam cursed and ran after him, jumping over fallen trees and swerving around upright ones. He quickly caught up and grabbed onto his arm to turn him around and garb his other one. "I just want to help you so let me!" He almost yelled. He was trying very hard to try and stay calm as the man's blood fell more quickly from the wound as his heart's pace quickened. "Please." Sam said in a much calmer voice.

After a moment, he nodded his head slowly. His face was growing paler and his struggles to get away from his grip were futile. Sam dropped his grip from the man's arms and his hand fell to his sides. "Thank you." He said calmly and started to walk back to way they had come.

It took them a good fifteen minutes to get back to the path that they were on before the path that he had shot at the man. From there it would take a good hour or more to get back to the spot where he had parked the car. Sam looked back to make sure h was still following him, which he was, to see that the blood was now dripping from his fingertips even though the man had his hand clamped down on the gash.

Again he cursed and stopped in his tracks. Pulling out a handkerchief that he had in his jacket pocket, he tied it tightly around the man's upper arm. Said man didn't resist and only let out a soft grunt when the material was tightened. It barely reached around but it would have to do for now. Or at least until they got back to his motel room where he could do some real first aid.

An hour past by uneventful with a heavy silence between the two. Sam could feel eyes drilling into the back of his skull as they walked with himself in the lead. The path was slowly unwinding before them and the Impala was eventually able to be spotted. Even though the coloring was close to jet black, the car could be seen clearly.

His father, John, had left for a hunt almost two weeks ago and left the keys to the Impala on the motel room table. After he had been gone for over three days, the usual deadline that he set for himself, Sam decided to take it into his own hands to go out and find him.

The hunt he was on at the moment was only a coincidence he happened upon as he was driving through town to stop for gas. Now, he had found a man in the wood that he had inflicted upon him. It was all he could do to help.

Sam heard the foot steps behind him slow down as they neared the car. He turned and saw that he was ghostly pale in the moon light. The Winchester boy rushed over and put an arm around his shoulder too keep him from collapsing, though he felt like this was something else entirely. "Come on, just a little bit further." He said encouragingly as they began to walk towards the car.

He set the man into the passenger's seat and rounded the front of the car to hop into the driver's seat. The engine quickly turned over and the low rumble of the Impala came to life as he sped down the road and back to the small town that he had been staying in.

The got to the motel and Sam got out of the car and helped the man into the room. Good thing that this motel only offered rooms with two beds. He set him down on the bed closest to the door and hastily took out the first aid kit from under the bed.

It was surprisingly easy to clean the wound. He poured alcohol onto it, earning a low hiss form the man, and wrapped gauze around it. The bleeding had stopped before they had even gotten into the car.

The man was sitting on the bed with his eyes with his eyes darting around the room. He was starting to question if bringing this stranger to his motel room was the best idea he had ever had. "What? What's wrong?" Sam asked him. He was starting to seriously worry about this person that he had met not two hours previous.

The man's eyes darted to Sam and lingered on him for a long moment. There was something in his blazing green eyes that he couldn't explain but it made him worry even more.

"Um…" Sam cleared his throat. "Why don't you go get cleaned up?" He offered, motioning towards the dark bathroom. The man hesitated before slowly nodding and standing. He walked towards the door in a cautious manner and closed the bathroom door behind him.

It was odd to Sam that he had found a man in the woods. How long had he been there? _Why _was he there? He had so many questions to ask when he came out of the bathroom.

It seemed as though it had been life times since he'd seen civilization. He had lost track after the three year mark had come and gone. When he looked in the mirror, what he saw scared him. His face was covered in dirt and grime. The only distinguishable feature of his own was his eyes. The hair on top of his head was matted and knotted together with dirt and whatever else decided to get stuck in there over the years. It reached down almost an inch below his shoulders. It was irritating to look at.

He had to get rid of it.

After trying so many times to hack it off with a sharp rock and failing miserably, he had simply given up on the effort to maintain the short hair he once sported so well. The hair he had before that night came and took it all away.

He opened the medicine cabinet to find a lone pair of scissors sitting on the little ledge that served as a shelf. Perfect, just what he needed. He set to work cutting off the major mats. Working his way from the bottom to the top. Hair filled the sink and it was beginning to return back to his old self. He was done with that and the hair on top of his head was back to the way it had been all those years ago. Albeit, a bit longer than before but he thought it looked good.

Now for his face. That was the tricky part in this whole situation. He now had a short beard that had grown in some time after puberty had hit a few years back. That too was matted with dirt and grime just as his hair and face was covered in it. He simply cut it all off and left the stubble that was too close to the skin to cut with the scissors.

He vigorously scrubbed at his face with one of the complimentary towels the motel had left hanging on a rack. When he finally looked back up at the mirror, he recognized himself for the first time in years.

He was Dean Winchester.

At that moment, everything came flooding back to him. All his worries that had built up and he moved to the back of his mind. He wondered where Sammy and his Father were, were they looking for him still, or had they stopped a long time ago fearing the worst? Questions ran through his head, drowning out all other sound, as he scrubbed the rest of his body with hot water from the faucet and three more towels.

He finally looked like a human being again and not some sort of caveman. He was satisfied with the way he looked. The way his features came in with puberty. He admired how the puberty train had hit him and shaped his facial features.

Dean took one more look at himself in the mirror before walking out of the bathroom and into the motel room once more. His transformation was complete.

Sam had been sitting at the motel table the entire time the man was in the bathroom. He was scouring the internet newspapers to find any sort of supernatural occurrence that his father might be attracted to. Letting out a heavy sigh, he leaned back in his chair and ran his hand over the top of his head, feeling the bristling of his cropped hair.

He remembered the days when he used to let his hair grow longer, but those days were long gone. Put to end by his father who had started to make him cut it to be 'better at hunting.' He had never openly opposed his father, but he always would have sarcastic remarks stuck bouncing around in his head whenever he would be told to do something.

When the bathroom door opened, Sam turned in his chair to face the door. It had been a good half hour since he had gone into the bathroom and he had been starting to wonder what he could possibly be doing in there.

Well, we can safely say that he understood as soon as the saw the man.

When he saw the man, Sam noticed two things. One, the man had done a bit more than just cleaning up. He basically had a complete transformation. He never thought he would see the day where a dirty, forest living man could be transformed into a normal human being in a half hour or less. Two, he recognized the person who stepped out of the bathroom. The emerald eyes should have been a dead giveaway in the beginning and Sam mentally slapped for being so stupid. To cut his some slack, anyone could have green eyes. The short cropped hair and the build of the face made it as clear as day who this man was, even if the pictures had been taken almost eighteen years ago.

The man he had found in the forest, and wounded, was none other than his older brother.

Sammy had finally found Dean after so many years of searching.

_**Author's Corner**_

**Ok, so another chapter up. The next chapter is really just a reunion type thing. It's kind of mushy and a bit shorter but we'll breeze right on past that and onto the good stuff. You can't have a Supernatural fan fiction without some action, right?**

**I love hearing back from you guys and hearing your thoughts, so please review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**I got a few questions and concerns from readers and I'll take the time out of this chapter to bring them to light.**

**Q: How did Sam recognize Dean so quickly?**

**A: I can imagine Sam recognizing Dean because he has some resemblance to John and he basically has the same hair cut that he had when he was five. That's a little unrealistic, I know, but this is a fanfiction and I'm really just letting my imagination take over.**

**Q: Why didn't the Yellow Eyed Demon kill Dean when he kidnapped him?**

**A: We'll just have to wait and see, now wont we?**

**Q: Why did the Yellow Eyed Demon kidnap Dean?**

**A: II think that The Demon really just wants to spite John. More answers to come as the story develops.**

**Q: Has Dean been living in the forest for his whole life?**

**A: In a manner of speaking, yes. When the Demon left him there, he ran off into the woods trying to find his way back to civilization but ended up getting lost and just running farther into the woods.**

**Q: Was he lost there?**

**A: See last answer.**

**Q: How did he survive?**

**A: I picture John cramming survival skills as well as hunting skills into Dean's head after he vowed to go after Mary's killer. He lived off of his survival skills and common primal instincts.**

**I've decided to make the schedule for updates either Wednesday or Friday. An update will be uploaded on one or both of those days each week depending on how much I have typed or what is going on in my real life.**

**Alright, after leaving those who have been waiting in suspense for almost a week, here is Chapter 2.**

_Chapter 2_

Dean watched as the person who had helped him stood slowly from his chair. His eyes were wide and trained on nothing but him. He ran his hand over the top of his head and felt the short hair bristle under his fingers. In all honesty, he hadn't planned on going this far in 'cleaning up.' It had just happened and he had somehow gotten carried away. For some reason though, he wasn't so sure that's why he was looking at him like that.

A single, inaudible word came out of the man's mouth as he started to slowly make his way over to Dean, who backed up in reaction.

"Huh?" he asked hoarsely. It had been years since he had actually used his voice to speak. He cleared his throat and tried again. "What?" That came out clearer.

"D… Dean?" The man asked hesitantly with a look of hope not only plastered onto his face, but carried over thick to his voice.

That one word made Dean stop in his tracks. That had been his name. This man, who he had only just met in the forest, just said his name. He wouldn't believe in a million years that someone would call him that again.

"W-What did you say?" Dean had heard him loud and clear, but his voice shook with uncertainty.

"Dean!" The man did a double take and smiled widely at him, his perfect white teeth blinking in the motel lamp light. "It's you! I know it's you!" He exclaimed. He stepped forward and towards him but he backed up involuntarily.

"Who the hell are you?" Dean's voice was hovering between fearful and dangerously low. Who was this man with his short cropped hair? He didn't recognize anything about him. Maybe a few things from various people slapped together to make his face, but nothing distinguishable.

The man looked sad and taken aback by the statement. His smile wavered and broke. "Dean… It's me." He sounded heartbroken. His shoulders were slouched as they had been square not moments before. "It's me, Sam. Sammy. Don't you remember me?"

Sammy.

That name echoed in his head as if on repeat. It all came back to him. The reality of this situation hit him like a punch to the face. Everything fit perfectly. The eyes, the way his face was shaped even if it was covered in a layer of baby chub all those years ago. Just how long had he been gone? Out in the woods fending for himself?

"Sammy…" He breathed the name out. Tears welled up in his eyes and he tried to blink them away as he looked at his not-so-baby brother. He looked like a young man. Everything that he hoped that he would grow up to be.

His brother's smile returned and you could just see the tears in his eyes as he nodded and came over to Dean. Without hesitation Sam pulled him into a hug in which the elder of the two greatly accepted.

"Where have you been, Dean?" His voice was weak as he talked into his older brother's shoulder. "We looked everywhere for you." The shake in his voice was clear. "We thought you… That you must have…"

The sentence didn't need to be finished. They were both thinking it. Dean squeezed his brother to reassure him that he understood and that he was really there. It felt good to have his brother in his arms again, even if he was much, much bigger than before.

Dean was happy for the first time in years. He was finally home. Or, as close to home as he ever would be.

Dean Winchester had finally come home.

Sam let himself hug his brother for a long moment. Just hugging him and letting a few stray tears of joy escape his boundaries. It had happened so quickly. He had his brother back. It had been eighteen long years of since he had been kidnapped and he had finally returned home.

"Dean… You've been gone for so long." Sam brought his face away from his brother's bare shoulder. "We searched everywhere for you. I never would've thought that you holed up in that forest for eighteen years." He chuckled and shook his head.

Dean looked as if he was doing the math in his head and he shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't hole up there, Sammy." His deep voice said. "The man dropped me there. Left me to fend for myself. Die." The middle Winchester looked down and shook his head. "I tried to get out of there and back to civilization, I really did, but I was going further into the forest the whole time. I ran for a long time and the whole time I was going in the wrong direction."

Sam gave him a sad smile and sat down on the bed behind him, pulling him down to sit next to him. He continued nonetheless. I just gave up, you know? I was content with living the rest of my life in the woods. Completely dependent on the training Dad had drilled into my thick skull." Dean turned his head to him with a smile. "But I thought about you and Dad every day. Some days, especially the birthdays I could remember for myself, I missed you guys like crazy and almost cried at the pain. Other days I pushed you to the back of my mind trying to forget and move on, thinking that I would never see you again."

Sam patted his brother on the shoulder and smiled. "We're still here, Dean. You don't have to worry anymore."

A look that could only be described as greatful crossed over his features and his eyes softened.

He smiled once again before crossing the room to go to his duffel and throw Dean clothed that were inside. "Go get changed. I can't take you seriously with that little on." He said, trying to lighten the mood.

Dean stood and smirked, gripping the clothes. "Yes sir." He said in a mocking tone before striding towards the bathroom again.

He came out minutes later in a green jacket, maroon over shirt and gray t-shirt underneath it all. He had made the transition back into the human world. "You know I'm keepin' this get up now, right?"

Sam smiled and nodded. "Sure, whatever you want, jerk."

Dean smirked again and threw out the shreds that had been his old clothes. "Bitch."

Dean was home, and they were already starting to act like brothers.

_**Author's Corner**_

**Ok, another finished and up. Next Chapter we introduce another character into the madness that is this story. I have a feint idea where this story is going but I haven't filled in all the holes yet.**

**Hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you all next week.**

**Please Review!**


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